Adele: The New Establishment

AGE: 24. last year’s ranking: New. STAGE OF GLOBAL CONQUEST: This year, the airwaves belonged to Adele, whose blockbuster album, 21, defied the laws of the modern music business and sold 10 million copies in the U.S.—a feat that had no longer been thought possible—while spending as much time at the top of the Billboard 200 as Prince’s Purple Rainand the Saturday Night Fever soundtracks. At the Grammy Awards in February, the London songstress returned from her performance hiatus—she’d been recovering from a vocal-cord hemorrhage—with a showstopping rendition of “Rolling in the Deep.” She won all six awards for which she was nominated. CLAIM TO FAME: Britain’s Gaydar Radio anointed her gay icon of the year, over Lady Gaga, Madonna, and George Michael. FASHION VICTIM: Karl Lagerfeld caused an uproar when he knocked Adele for being “a little too fat.” He later apologized and sent her a batch of Chanel handbags. NEXT BIG THING: In June, Adele announced that she and boyfriend Simon Konecki, the co-founder of Life water, were expecting a child. YEAR AHEAD: ↗